Project description:Purpose: Extracellular vesicle (EV)‑derived microRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of circulating miRNAs located in the plasma that are are now considered the next generation of cancer “theranostic” tools, with a strong clinical relevance. Although the potential role of EV-packaged miRNAs in breast cancer diagnosis has been widely reported, further studies are still demanded to address this challenging issue. The present study examined the expression profiles of EVs and circulating miRNAs with the aim of identifying novel miRNA signatures in breast cancer, and verify their diagnostic accurancy.
Project description:Background MicroRNA expression is frequently dysregulated in cancer and it could be used potentially as a disease classifier and a prognostic tool in cancer. It has been reported that the cancer associated specific microRNAs were stably detected in blood. The objective of this study was to discover a panel of circulating microRNAs as potential ER+/HER2- breast cancer biomarkers. Methods We compared levels of circulating microRNAs in blood samples from 11 ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with age-matched 5 control subjects by using microarray-based expression profiling. We validated the level of microRNAs by real-time quantitative polymerase cycle reaction (RT-qPCR) in 40 control subjects, 180 early breast cancer patients (EBC), and 52 metastatic breast cancer patients (MBC). Then, we assessed the association between the levels of microRNA and clinical outcomes of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer. Background MicroRNA expression is frequently dysregulated in cancer and it could be used potentially as a disease classifier and a prognostic tool in cancer. It has been reported that the cancer associated specific microRNAs were stably detected in blood. The objective of this study was to discover a panel of circulating microRNAs as potential ER+/HER2- breast cancer biomarkers. Methods We compared levels of circulating microRNAs in blood samples from 11 ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with age-matched 5 control subjects by using microarray-based expression profiling. We validated the level of microRNAs by real-time quantitative polymerase cycle reaction (RT-qPCR) in 40 control subjects, 180 early breast cancer patients (EBC), and 52 metastatic breast cancer patients (MBC). Then, we assessed the association between the levels of microRNA and clinical outcomes of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer. Controls: 5 cases; ER +/HER2- breast cancer patients : 11 cases
Project description:Cervical cancer is a global public health subject as it affects women in the reproductive ages, and accounts for the second largest burden among cancer patients worldwide with an unforgiving 50% mortality rate. Poor awareness and access to effective diagnosis have led to this enormous disease burden, calling for point-of-care, minimally invasive diagnosis methods. Here, an end-to-end quantitative approach for a new kind of diagnosis has been developed, comprising identification of optimal biomarkers, design of the sensor, and simulation of the diagnostic circuit. Using miRNA expression data in the public domain, we identified circulating miRNA biomarkers specific to cervical cancer using multi-tier screening. Synthetic riboregulators called toehold switches specific for the biomarker panel were then designed. To predict the dynamic range of toehold switches for use in genetic circuits as biosensors, we developed a generic grammar of these switches, and built a multivariate linear regression model using thermodynamic features derived from RNA secondary structure and interaction. The model yielded predictions of toehold efficacy with an adjusted R2 = 0.59. Reaction kinetics modelling was performed to predict the sensitivity of the second-generation toehold switches to the miRNA biomarkers. Simulations showed a linear response between 10nM and 100nM before saturation. Our study demonstrates an end-to-end workflow for the efficient design of genetic circuits geared towards the effective detection of unique genomic signatures that would be increasingly important in today’s world. The approach has the potential to direct experimental efforts and minimise costs. All resources are provided open-source (https://github.com/igem2019) under GNU GPLv3 licence.
Project description:Background MicroRNA expression is frequently dysregulated in cancer and it could be used potentially as a disease classifier and a prognostic tool in cancer. It has been reported that the cancer associated specific microRNAs were stably detected in blood. The objective of this study was to discover a panel of circulating microRNAs as potential ER+/HER2- breast cancer biomarkers. Methods We compared levels of circulating microRNAs in blood samples from 11 ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with age-matched 5 control subjects by using microarray-based expression profiling. We validated the level of microRNAs by real-time quantitative polymerase cycle reaction (RT-qPCR) in 40 control subjects, 180 early breast cancer patients (EBC), and 52 metastatic breast cancer patients (MBC). Then, we assessed the association between the levels of microRNA and clinical outcomes of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer. Background MicroRNA expression is frequently dysregulated in cancer and it could be used potentially as a disease classifier and a prognostic tool in cancer. It has been reported that the cancer associated specific microRNAs were stably detected in blood. The objective of this study was to discover a panel of circulating microRNAs as potential ER+/HER2- breast cancer biomarkers. Methods We compared levels of circulating microRNAs in blood samples from 11 ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer patients with age-matched 5 control subjects by using microarray-based expression profiling. We validated the level of microRNAs by real-time quantitative polymerase cycle reaction (RT-qPCR) in 40 control subjects, 180 early breast cancer patients (EBC), and 52 metastatic breast cancer patients (MBC). Then, we assessed the association between the levels of microRNA and clinical outcomes of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.
Project description:Retinoblastoma (RB) is a malignant intraocular neoplasm occurs mostly in children. The malignancy caused due to altered miRNA expression in cancer tumors and circulating body fluids has been reported in several cancers. The aberrantly expressed microRNAs are useful for diagnosis and prognosticating the tumors. Circulating miRNAs have been identified as potential markers in neoplastic and non -neoplastic diseases. The aim of the study involves identifying microRNA signatures of serum of Retinoblastoma and possible use of differential miRNA as unique biomarker for RB. Agilent Single Color Whole miRNA microarray: 14 advanced stage Retinoblastoma Serum (pooled) Vs 14 Non-Retinoblastoma Serum (pooled) samples
Project description:Purpose: There is a quest for novel non-invasive diagnostic markers for the detection of breast cancer. The goal of this study is to identify circulating microRNA signatures using a cohort of Asian Chinese breast cancer patients, and to compare microRNA profiles between tumour and serum samples. Experimental design: MicroRNAs from paired breast cancer tumours, normal tissue and serum samples derived from 32 patients were comprehensively profiled using microarrays (1300 microRNAs against tumour and normal tissues) or LNA RT-PCR panels (742 microRNAs against serum samples). Serum samples from healthy individuals (n=22) were also employed as normal controls. Significant serum microRNAs, identified by logistic regression, were validated in an independent set of serum samples from patients (n=82) and healthy controls (n=53). Results: The 20 most significant microRNAs differentially expressed in breast cancer tumours included miR-21, miR-10b, and miR-145, previously shown to be dysregulated in breast cancer. Interestingly, 16 of the 20 most significant microRNAs differentially expressed in serum samples were novel. MiR-1, miR-92a, miR-133a and miR-133b were identified as the most important diagnostic markers, and were successfully validated; receiver operating characteristic curves derived from combinations of these microRNAs exhibited areas under the curves of 0.944-0.946. Only seven microRNAs were overexpressed in both tumours and serum, suggesting that microRNAs may be released into the serum selectively. Conclusion: The clinical employment of microRNA signatures as a non-invasive diagnostic strategy is promising, but should be further validated for different subtypes of breast cancers. Blood samples were collected in Becton Dickinson (Franklin Lakes, NJ) Vacutainer SST tubes. Serum was harvested by centrifugation at 2200g after allowing blood to clot for 30mins. 32 patient samples and 22 samples from healthy controls were obtained for profiling. Sera samples were stored at -80oC.
Project description:There is drastic racial disparities between Caucasian (CA) and African American (AA) for breast cancer. Circulating microRNAs exhibit stability and may serve as biomarkers in clinical settings. To discover potential microRNAs that mediate intercellular crosstalk and as biomarkers underlying the breast cancer racial disparity, serum exosomes from CA and AA were extracted and analyzed for its microRNA contents using small RNA sequencing.